Sharing, Caring, Helping, Protection and Cooperation by Mindfulness and Right Understanding.

27 September 2014

Don’t Obey Your Desire : Part - Two

Don’t Obey Your Desire

Teaching of ThaBarWa Sayadaw U
Ottamasara

Delivered at Wat Ananda Metyarama
Thai Buddhist Temple

Singapore, March 2014

Part - Two

When you meditate, you
are not the only one who is meditating. There are a lot of people meditating.
Some are in a forest or in a cave, some are in a meditation center. There are a
lot of people who are meditating. Because of someone, we pay attention to
someone, to one of the meditators. That habit must be abandoned. If we cannot
abandon the habit of paying attention to someone, we are not following the
Middle Way. The Middle Way is free from rejecting and attaching.

There are many
meditators who practice meditation but they cannot abandon their habits; if
they work they will pay attention to their work. They will pay attention to
their life as a worker. If they meditate, they will pay attention to this life
of a meditator and they will pay attention to their action of meditation.

Although they are
meditating they cannot detach from themselves and from their actions. I mean,
they are doing good deeds for themselves. They are misunderstanding the
practice of meditation as being their own work. If doing with the idea of
something that we own, it will never end. We are usually representing something
or someone. So we must try to represent the Truth , which is Ever New Impermanent
Nature.

We can understand, we
can think, we can recognize, we can feel the sound, we can feel the smell, we
can feel the cold. We misunderstand that 'I understand' or 'I am thinking' or 'someone
is thinking' or 'someone is feeling cold'. This is wrong. All these
powers are concerning the Ever New Impermanent Nature. Only the Ever New
Impermanent Nature can know, can think, can feel, can remember and can make
actions. This Ever New Impermanent Nature is not something, not someone.

We are always using the
power of Ever New Impermanent Nature, but we misunderstand; we don’t know the
Truth, which is Ever New Impermanent Nature. This is why we misunderstand that
there is someone, 'I' or 'you', there is something: 'mine' or 'yours'. We can
use living beings, including ourselves. We can use non-living beings, but we
must try to detach from the idea of something or of someone.

So the practice of
detachment is not paying attention to something or to someone. We can pay
attention but we must try to stop that habit. Not daring to abandon the habit
of paying attention is attachment. We can eat, but we should also try not to
eat. We can sleep, but we should try not to sleep. We must understand
that abandoning is necessary.

Abandoning is also an
action. Normally we understand that we have to work but we should understand
that the work is necessary to be done and also to be abandoned. Eating is also
to be done and to be abandoned. Sleeping is also to be done and to be abandoned.
We understand that we have to 'occupy' our life; this is not complete
understanding. Life is also to be used and to be abandoned, to be lost. We must
try to abandon our belongings and also ourselves. If we don’t understand that,
we will only understand that we must work, we must learn, study, we must try to
get everything.

So we want everything
because we understand that things must be possessed. We understand that
food must be eaten. This is why we want to eat all food. We understand all
places are meant to go to; this is why we want to go everywhere. Because our
understanding is not complete. We can go, we can eat but we must understand
both doing and abandoning. We must try to do and we must try to abandon also.
In this way we will be able to control ourselves.

Here in Singapore and in
Japan the people think they have to work too much. Without work no food, no
life. They are believing in the wrong way. This is why they cannot live without
work. They are using incomplete understanding. This is why their action is also
not complete. We should do when we have to do. We must be able to do when we
should do. We must be able not to do when we should not do. We must eat when we
should eat. We must not eat when we should not. All the actions are also to be done
and to be abandoned. If we understand that the action is to be done there will
be strong attachment for doing and in this way we will be busy all the time.

Most people in society
are interested in education, business, sports or politics but they rarely are
interested in meditation and the practice of mindfulness and detachment. They
are not paying attention to Buddha’s teaching. This is why their understanding
is not complete, so their mind is not complete, their life is not complete. We
can do education, business, politics but we must also be able to do meditation,
to do good deeds and not to do bad. We must each purify our mind also.

There are a lot of
problems in the mind of people. Because they don’t care, they are not
interested in purifying their mind. They are paying attention to work, money,
and to success; that is why their mind is not pure. This is why they
suffer.

You should try to
meditate daily, at least one hour in the morning. In this way you are trying to
detach from your daily work. If you do not meditate, you will be busy with your
work all the time. By meditating daily you will be able to detach from your
work for one hour. In this way you must continue to detach for longer
periods of time. If you can detach from society, from your job, then
there is no need to do as other people do. Because of attachment, human beings
are busy with their work. So also animals are busy with their work.

Daily activities to participate ….

ThaBarWa Centre or ThaBarWa Yeiktha is an ideal place for learning and practicing meditation as well as for helping others who have physical and mental limitations and difficulties.

Our center takes care of everybody, regardless of age, race and religion, who cannot support themselves and survive on their own due to various reasons and at the same time teaching them how to meditate and purify their mind.

The population of our centre is more than 2,500. By staying at our centre, you will have plenty of chances to experience and participate in the following activities …

1. Following the monks in their daily alms rounds and helping in distributing the alms food to infirm, old folks and meditators.

2. Taking care of and assisting infirm or old folks with their chores.

3. Visiting branches of ThaBarWa Centres (across Myanmar).

4. Learning Burmese culture and the people.

5. Attending insight meditation session and classes.

6. Helping in the kitchen, cooking and distributing food.

7. Helping in the health care, in the clinics and wards.

8. Helping in the library.

9. Assisting Venerable with management, IT and technology.

10. Visiting the mercy villages which were established (by ThaBarWa) for homeless and needy families and individuals.

11. Sharing your language, IT and technology knowledge and expertise with adults and Children of our centre.

Sayadaw Ashin Ottamasara

Please click the photo to visit Sayadaw's facebook

Biography

Sayadaw Ashin Uttamasara was born in Katha, Sagaing Division, Myanmar on Sunday 26th October 1969.

Since his youth he placed full value on education. He passed Matriculation in 1986 with flying colors. After completing a B.A (English, Honors) from the University of Yangon in 1992, he became a young entrepreneur and successful businessman within a short period of time.

Faced with difficulties and frustrations in running a complex business for 7 years, he sought refuge in the Dhamma in 1999. With the help of a Dhamma friend, he entered the Mogok Meditation Centre at Insein Monastery for a five-day meditation retreat, becoming initiated in Dhamma contemplation and practice.

From February 1999 to January 2002 he deeply concentrated on meditation. He became so devoted to Dhamma that he was able to reduce his business calmly, without much attachment.

For the propagation of Dhamma he donated all the assets he had accumulated during 6 years of entrepreneurship. He then concentrated on charity, morality and insight contemplation to find the perfect Truth.

In 2002, he was ordained in Yangon by Sayadaw U Nayyasagara and started to teach Vipassana Insight Meditation.

Today, Sayadaw teaches Dhamma and Guided Vipassana Insight Meditation in various institutions, schools, hospitals and individual residences in Myanmar and other countries.

Sayadaw remains a well-known name throughout the shores of Myanmar and beyond.

Thabarwa is a place for everyone!!

Thabarwa Center is a non-profit humanitarian organization working for a noble cause.

We provide a home sweet home for everybody (both for locals and foreigners alike), unconditionally.

We open 24 hours a day, seven days a week without recess.

The activities of Sayadaw Ashin Uttamasara and Thabarwa Center are wide and various, serving the spiritual and physical needs of thousands from far and near.

More and more visitors from all over Myanmar and abroad are coming daily to visit, learn meditation and volunteer their skills and time in caring for those taking refuge at Thabarwa Center.

Good deeds at Thabarwa

• Providing refuge not only for meditators but also for the old aged, homeless, orphans, loners, infirm and the people with physical and mental difficulties.

• Currently more than 2,500 people (as of October 2015) taking refuge at our centre.

• Providing health care, food, clothing, shelter, clean water for cooking and drinking, etc. and offering aids and support for free of charge.

• Solving day to day problems of centre residents, meditators, volunteers and visitors.

• Communicating and cooperating with volunteers, charities, non-profit organizations and philanthropists from Myanmar and abroad.

• Conducting daily Vipassana Insight Meditation and Dhamma Talks.

• Conducting retreats in the traditions of renowned vipassana meditation masters. All the meditation methods are being utilized without attachment to any particular method.